The things that we don't say (But we know)
by ShadowDianne
Summary: "What do you feel when you have true love?"
1. Chapter 1

**A/N To the ones that haven't seen the episode yet: I recommend you to not do it. But apart from the horrible writing, enormous plotholes, stupid Hook and Ursula's leaving we have had a at least one moment between Emma and Regina and even after Hook's "incredible" admission we have yet to reach the TLK state so I'm confident that Hook is going to have his arse dumped.**

**Anyway, sorry for the long author's note, I needed to write somewhere about the fuckery of last episode but anyway, here we are, hope you enjoy this one shot and let me know your opinions about it!**

**The things that we don't say (but we know)**

_Disclaimer: I don't own them._

"What do you feel when you have true love?"

The question was said softly, as if the words were precious glass that was going to smash against the floor seconds before being released in the air of the empty room. And for a second Regina thought that she had merely projected her own doubts into the air instead of being questioned by Emma.

The rest of the house was asleep and somewhere Regina could sense August's snores and David's breathing and even if she couldn't see Henry she could imagine the gentle smile that the boy always had when he was in the middle of a good dream.

Everyone was sleeping except them and a hour before Regina had actually been surprised when Emma had brought two mugs full of chamomile tea and has seated next to her in font of one of the upper floor's windows, her profile illuminated gently by the moonlight that filtered through a few clouds.

"I can't sleep" The blonde had said as her only explanation and she had drank her tea calmly without looking at her. And even if Regina had known that something wasn't right she had let it pass, drinking the hot beverage instead and thanking silently the blonde's thoughtfulness.

And for an hour they had shared the silence without feeling uncomfortable, Regina actually relaxing in her skin once again after being exposed to dark magic for far too long in the past 24 hours.

Until Emma had asked that question of course.

"What do you mean?" Regina replied, trying to win some more seconds before answering the question. She looked at the window once again, the flickering lights of the city blurring until the only thing she could see was herself and Emma's tired look reflected back at her.

"How do you know when you are with your true love? It's something that both people feel at the same time?"

The blonde's voice was forced, strange, metallic to Regina's ears and she frowned thinking in the pirate and if he was the reason behind Emma's questions.

"It's not exactly a feeling" Regina said, repeating the words that she had been taught when she had first asked about what being a someone's true love meant. She doubted that anyone in Storybrooke could actually give a different answer since all of them had been born in the same land. "You simply know"

Emma nodded but her reflected eyes remained the same, unmoving, sad, full of something that made Regina bit her lower lip as she still refused to look at the blonde directly. Even if she didn't know why she was scared or why she didn't want to look at Emma's open face.

"That's what mom… Snow had said to me" The blonde muttered and Regina thanked her good hearing because otherwise she couldn't have listened to those last words. "But I don't understand how something so… important for the people that live here can be described as that"

Regina wanted to answer to that but she didn't and the silence reigned again between them as an imperceptible ticking from the brunette's wrist registered the pass of time.

"Sometimes I also wonder about what it means" Regina admitted while wanting to make herself stop. She wasn't supposed to say that, she was supposed to believe in what true love meant but after those last months she was starting to think differently about that powerful force and what actually could do.

"That's why you had asked me to search for Robin?" Emma replied and her tone had changed, bitter and full of something that the brunette didn't exactly knew but suspected what it was.

Regina, however, did know that she wasn't supposed to search for Hood, or for wanting to know where he was. She had made the right decision sending him away and she doubted that confirming that he was happy was going to make her any good. But she wanted desperately to believe that something in her life had been different that merely being destined to be the Evil Queen, even if that was just a soulmate that should have never existed.

"What do you think?" Regina asked and she cursed herself for standing a little too straight and talking a little too loud and clenching her fists a little too forcefully as if she was feeling challenged for just the answer of a stupid question that didn't exactly hold the importance for all of that.

"I promised you that I was going to find your happy ending" Emma said mechanically while removing at the leaves of her already cold tea as she looked at somewhere that Regina doubted was really at the other side of the window.

"That's not an answer" Regina said and sighed, asking herself why she was still trying to talk about something that neither of them knew exactly what it was.

"I suppose it isn't"

And this time Regina actually turned to look at Emma's face while the other woman moved her neck until their eyes met, Emma's still cold.

"Hook told me that I'm his happy ending" Emma finally admitted moving her right hand and touching the window, her index finger tracing a figure that only her could see. "And I kissed him"

"Congratulations" Regina croaked out and she coughed, trying to discern what Emma wanted her to say.

"I didn't answer him" Emma replied, her lips barely moving as she kept drawing against the glass. "I don't think I understand how that works"

"Which part?" The brunette asked and she found herself raising her hand and touching with it the cold glass of the window, Emma's finger stilling for a moment before continuing with the invisible picture.

"I don't understand how anyone can be someone's ending and that be seen as good" Emma continued "What happens after being named that? What are you supposed to feel? Trapped?"

"Is that what you feel?" Regina asked and for a second she could felt Emma's burning gaze even if she was not looking at the blonde once again.

Emma didn't answer for so long that Regina started to think that maybe she had asked too much for only a simple question but after what appeared to be hours the blonde let her hand drop at her side and answered a quick affirmation, her voice still sounding strange to Regina's ears.

"I miss feeling that I can do anything without being seeing as someone's someone" Emma continued "It's because of that that sometimes it's easier just to kiss Hook and say to myself that I'm his happy ending because he is mine but nothing is so simple and he certainly isn't my true love"

"We are in a different realm, maybe the feeling here is something entirely different" Regina whispered and she suddenly felt defeated; Emma's last words were the ones that she had been asking to herself since Robin's departure, what had meant for her, what it had meant for both of them, how much everything had been fate and what it could have been good in another time, in another realm.

"And what if it's not?" The blonde asked moving herself closer to the brunette until Regina didn't have the choice but look at her.

Emma's eyes were full with questions and wonder, the same eyes that Regina had seen the first time she had met the younger woman. Eyes that could easily turn into deep emerald eyes fueled with anger and desire for protection, protection that Emma could easily give and was now starting to learn how to accept.

"Emma…" Regina found herself saying, her voice wavering as Emma took a step closer to her, still far enough to not actually being touching the older woman but close enough to make everything more complicated than it actually was.

"I was worried you know?" Emma said, her voice wavering and this time it wasn't confusion but hurt what filled her eyes. "Worried sick in fact because as powerful as you are, you were one against three different queens. And after you told us that Gold was also there… Regina, you are in danger, as much as August was"

Regina opened her mouth and tried to explain herself but she knew that she couldn't, she had promised Snow to keep the secret to herself so she stood there, silent, looking at everything but Emma's eyes. And it was then when she saw how Emma's mug was still in one of the blonde's hands, the fingers white because of the pressure that the younger woman was putting in it.

Touching the mug Regina caressed softly Emma's skin until the blonde exhaled and tilted her head, her blonde hair obscuring half of her face as Regina stilled her hand, suddenly realizing what she was doing. But Emma didn't move and so neither did her.

"I won't lie to you, I think we already established that" Regina said and that made Emma look at the brunette once again, silently nodding before moving her body, Regina's hand falling at her side as both of them returned to look at the night's darkness.

"He doesn't deserve you" Emma said after a few more seconds of silence and it was Regina's turn to feel tired and filled with rage, rage because neither of what was happening was something that she had asked for.

"I know" She replied as softly as possible and when she saw Emma's curt nod in the window's reflection she talked again "Neither does the pirate"

And this time, when Emma moved closer, Regina didn't think about moving away. She stood there as the blonde kissed her cheek and when Emma stilled for a second, afraid of moving and unsure of what she had done Regina moved her neck and kissed the blonde's lips.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Hi there, since a few of you asked for a continuation I decided on writing this little piece taking into account the last episode of OUAT. I'm sorry for the lack of new chapters on my other stories but I've had a very complicated days with little time to actually write something good enough… -.-**

"I'm not mad at you"

Regina nodded and sighed before taking another step towards Emma's car. Her job was done and Rumplestiskin already knew where she had her loyalty. The fresh night air brought her the odor of the woods alongside with something else, something powerful that she didn't want to ask what it was. For now.

She looked at her side where Emma kept helping her, carefully watching the night as they approached the yellow bug with apprehension, both women knowing that they could be assaulted by the remains of the Queens of Darkness at any moment.

"I know" Regina finally said and it was Emma's turn to nod weakly as she finally opened the door of the car, her hands trembling slightly as she helped Regina in, the older woman's legs still a little bit wobbly after the sleeping curse that Maleficent had casted upon her.

Both women knew that Regina wasn't going to ask for forgiveness. it wasn't her style, not when the brunette wanted to help someone and so Emma started the car and moved away from the vault, her phone still beeping every few minutes while different ID's flashed on the screen and even if Regna tried to not read them Snow's, David's and Hook's names appeared in scrambled order as every three of them tried to reach the disheveled blonde.

"Henry is alright?" Regina asked after a few more seconds of tense silence and for a second she thought that Emma wasn't going to answer her, the green eyes of the younger woman completely focused on the road ahead of her while her hands tightened her grip around the steering wheel.

"I haven't see him for a while but Snow and David told me that he was ok when they saw him" Emma's voice was metallic when she mentioned her parents and Regina sighed and looked through the closed window of the car as the dark trees slowly morphed into the first building of Storybrooke.

The car rode with both women immersed on their thoughts and, from time to time, the tension between them made both of them look at each other, a myriad of questions swirling inside their minds as they finally stopped in the brunette's house, a little light on the right part of the house signaling that Henry was already there.

Regina exited the car and turned, looking at the blonde woman that was already starting the engine once again and, with a tired nod to herself, the brunette tapped on Emma's side of the car until the woman looked at her.

"Come in" Regina voice was soft and for a second she doubted that Emma was going to listen to her, not after everything that had happened.

Emma, however, followed her silently, her car dying at their backs as she closed it and marched towards the now open door of the house. Once inside Regina eyed the blonde until the younger woman let out a long sigh.

"Why?" Emma asked and Regina found herself shrugging, not quite knowing what to answer to the other woman. As the seconds stretched Emma's tight jawline became more prominent and glimpses of anger started to show inside her pupils "Why Regina?"

"To protect you" Regina replied succinctly as she moved towards the living-room.

"You could have been killed" Emma's continued as she followed her, her phone beeping once again as she looked at the other woman's back.

Regina nodded silently and turned, her hands caressing the soft wood of the table in front of her as she locked her eyes with Emma's.

"So?" The brunette frowned at the sound of her own voice but Emma kept looking at her ignoring the broken sound that had come out from the older woman's lips.

"Snow couldn't bear the idea of being anything else than pure, you shouldn't have put yourself in danger because of it" Emma sat in one of the coaches as Regina kept staring at her with trembling lips.

"And what could have been the right answer then?" The brunette asked as anger seeped into her speech until her words were strongly laced with tired rage.

"Telling me the truth" Emma replied with clenched fists.

Regina snorted at that, her eyes burning with tears that she wasn't going to let fall, not now. She knew that Emma had deserved the truth, lying to her had been one of the most complicated things that she had needed to do in order to do what it was expected from her. And not only because the blonde could really read her as an open book.

"You already knew that your parents were lying to you Emma, why me and not them?"

Emma stilled and for a second Regina believed that she had pushed too far the other woman's anger. But Emma stood and approached her standing form, her eyes shining with the same tears that she wasn't going to let them fall.

"Because I asked you to be sincere with me, and when I saw that you weren't I believed that it was better that way. Because you have always believed in me, even when you didn't want to, because you never saw me like I was breakable or weak" Emma's voice became softer as she approached Regina, the words barely unintelligible as she raised her left hand as if she was going to touch the other woman's face.

However it was Regina the one that touched Emma's wrist and closed her own hand around it, their skins burning as both of them looked into each other eyes as the last remaining of anger died inside the blonde's verdant eyes.

"I could have helped" Emma finally said as she licked her lower lip making Regina's eyes looked down at the glimpse of tongue that she let it out. "I don't need protection"

"I know you could have help" Regina whispered "But I didn't want to make you see what I saw inside that cabin"

"Why?" Emma's question was said challengingly and Regina nodded to herself before doing the same thing that the other woman had done the night before; she kissed her.

Their lips crashed against each other until Emma moved her face and put her forehead in Regina's shoulder, the angle of her body making the brunette stumble as she tried to put her arms around the younger's woman frame.

"Just because" Regina replied softly and Emma trembled a little with something that the brunette didn't know if it was anger, tears or laughter.

It didn't matter though, Emma was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Recommendation about the last episode: Watch only the last minute or so, it's the only part you are going to enjoy.**

Regina drank from her mug as Emma looked at her hands in the empty apartment, both women too tired to even talk.

The blonde's lips were covered in little wounds, product of the woman's tick of chewing them whenever she was upset or worried; the scent of trees and mud followed her like a second skin. Something that had made Regina smirk tiredly for a second when she had first picked up the odor before realizing what she was doing and stopping.

Emma glanced at Regina with a grim expression, her lips fiercely closed as the older woman tried to heat her hands with the hot mug she was holding.

"It's not fair" Emma whispered and Regina smiled humorlessly before shrugging, her eyes covering in tears once again as Rumplestiskin's words kept echoing inside of her.

"What it's not fair?" She asked softly, her voice trembling slightly while she tried to keep her façade intact, too tired to even look at Emma directly as the younger woman put her elbows on the table and stare at her intently.

"Everything I guess" Emma replied and Regina laughed caustically before nodding herself, a white rage covering her once tired mind with its strength.

"Like my sister being alive even after she disappeared and everyone believed she was dead just because we couldn't find her body?"

Regina raised her head only to found Emma nodding, her verdant eyes trying to lock themselves with theirs but Regina kept talking, letting the rage overtake her, too tired of the pain she had been feeling since Rumplestiskin had let her go with a sinister smile and the promise to keep in touch.

Feeling rage was something she was used to, was simple, easy, feeling rage was less confusing and less complicated so she let the rage win inside of her. Her hands were grabbing the mug too strongly but she kept it that way, too carried away to even care anymore if she was doing or feeling what it was right.

"Like the fact that Robin is possibly in danger because of me?" She let out a tremulous laugh, tears threating to break her fury as they covered her eyes. "No, it's not fair"

Emma sighed and licked her lips, Robin's name making her swallow the dull pain she had been feeling since Regina called her hours ago.

"I'm sorry" Emma whispered and Regina closed her eyes feeling uneasy now she had let her rage say what she had been thinking; Guilt, Pain, Death.

She was incredibly tired and as she tried to rest her forehead in the wooden table she felt a soft hand caressing her skin. Startled, she opened her eyes only to find Emma's eyes staring back at her. The blonde had approached her and was now kneeled next to her chair with a strange expression on her eyes, her tea mug forgotten at the other side of the table where she had been seated until now.

"Robin is going to be alright" The blonde promised and although it was a mere flash Regina could discern the pain that glowed inside Emma's pupil for a second before falling into the nothingness.

Neither of them talked for what felt like hours, the old clock's ticking the only sound in the apartment as Emma kept kneeled next to the brunette, Regina still circling the mug with her hands although the tea was cooling quickly.

They could have said something to break the silence, or moved but they kept still even after Regina's neck started to hurt because of the forced pose. As the time passed the older woman started to wonder if Emma wasn't tired or if she was going to say something else apart from that promise but Emma kept staring at Regina, her head tilted to one side and her eyes firmly locked on Regina's features.

The older woman's eyes started to wander, forgetting Emma's own eyes and focusing on the little, almost imperceptible movements her face made. Like the slight movement of her nostrils as the blonde woman breathed or the way the pale skin of cheeks seems to turn red from time to time. Even the flash of the woman's tongue was an excuse to keep staring at her and so Regina's rage disappeared little by little, being replaced by calmness.

"I chose you" The woman whispered and a quiet realization filled her voice as she repeated the words as slow as possible, weighing them. "I chose you"

Emma didn't understand but she nodded quietly, caressing Regina's cheek once again, destroying the few remains of Regina's rage with her touch.

"I choose you" The brunette said for the third time and Emma tilted her head and smiled a little, her voice rough and deep because of the night she had passed searching for the author when she finally spoke.

"So do I"

Regina wanted to contradict her, told her that she was saying something else but she chose otherwise, her want for feeling Emma's gentle touch one more second before everything started to crumble once again was stronger. Those stolen moments with the blonde were the only ones capable of healing her remorse and terror after all. And as Emma kept staring at her she wondered if the blonde knew or if she also needed those moments as strong as she did.


	4. Chapter 4

Emma didn't react, not even after Snow's cries when David and her discovered the now unmoving body of Cruella, not after the reassuring, yet void, words that both of them tried to tell her between tears. They were supportive and yet the only thing Emma could think about was how her parents only saw her as an extension of themselves; Good, pure, a hero even if she was starting to feel that neither of them were exactly one.

She didn't say anything, not even to Henry when the boy looked at her and smiled weakly, his tears starting to dry as he tried to hug her one more time, Emma's own heart beating fast for a second before stilling completely when she heard another voice, deep and calm making both her parents and Henry go.

Then, with a few steps, the owner of the voice reached her side and touched her shoulder while Emma kept staring at the nothingness. Silence finally filled the place and Emma permitted herself to look at her side where Regina stood, her umbrella in the other hand and a inscrutable look on her face. Still, the only thing Emma could muster was a quiet thanks before finding that she didn't see the point of talking anymore; not after what had happened.

Regina nodded and kneeled graciously next to her, her eyes never leaving Emma's face, not even after the blonde woman tried to look away from the brunette's soft brown pupils, so different to the looks Snow and David had looked at her.

They didn't say anything for the longest of times, so much that Regina's legs starting to tremble because of the position but she didn't complain, her hands now on Emma's right arm keeping her steady while the blonde sighed and tried to look away. Emma didn't react, feeling only shame of herself and the tears that kept pooling on her eyes before starting to roll down her cheeks, the salty drops feeling hot against her cold skin.

Then, a sob filled the place and it wasn't until Regina hugged her strongly murmuring reassuring words in her hair that Emma realized she was being the one trembling, shock running through her body as the true realization of what has she done hit her.

"I killed someone" Her voice was raw against the soft material of Regina's coat and for a moment she wondered if she could be like that for a little longer, wrapped up between Regina's arms and safe from the outside world.

Regina hugged her one more time before moving away, her clothes wrinkled and muddy but she didn't seem to care as she looked at Emma with understanding written on her face.

Emma felt the void in her chest starting to beat once again when Regina's hand touched her cheeks and caressed them until every trace of tears were gone, the brunette's own lips trembling for a moment before stilling, her movements soft and tender, never hurried and little by little Emma felt herself once again. Even if she knew that she had changed forever.

No because the savior crap, no because good heroes couldn't kill but because she had killed someone and yet she knew that everyone was going to saw her as the fallen hero instead of the woman who craved for sleep and woke up far away from where she was, far away from the choices she had been compelled to make.

And yet, Regina was the only one looking at her, protecting her with a quiet understanding emanating from her eyes, soothing her pain.

"I killed her" Emma repeated with a sob growing inside her throat and this time it was herself who moved towards Regina and hugged her, catching the whiff of apple scent and fire before the brunette broke down the hug once against and kissed her temple with her hands caressing the blonde's back in soft and gentle circles.

"Sometimes we only see a correct answer" Regina finally said with her deep voice covering Emma's body like a blanket "Even if we know that what we are doing is wrong we decide to go for it instead of thinking anything else. You didn't know Cruella couldn't kill Henry"

"And yet" Emma said with a bitter smile and Regina sighed and nodded alongside with her.

"I'm not going to move away" The older woman finally said when Emma started to get restless, her hands now on her lap as vivid images of her family moving away starting to fill her mind.

"You are not?" The blonde replied weakly, her eyes red with unshed tears and tiredness that she felt on every part of her body like a curse.

"I'm not." Regina responded "We are going to figure everything out, together"

The words weren't void, not like David speech of how Emma was still his daughter even after what had happened. Regina's words were a promise, a safe place between the craziness her life had become and so when the older woman stood up and offered her one of her hands Emma stood and hugged the woman one more time as the brunette poofed them away from there.

"I trust you" Emma whispered in Regina's ear while they were traveling, purple mist circling them, keeping them together and even if the words she had thought were others Regina nodded and hugged her a little more strongly as if she knew what she had wanted to say.

"I know"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Hi all! So, this is the final chapter of this set of drabbles. I started them because I really hate how they keep leaving everything in subtext but-not-quite and I promised myself to end it with the season finale of the 4S so, after a lot of thinking, I've decided to stop here and just start another set of drabbles when the s5 starts.**

**Thank you all for your reviews, follows and favs, hope to see everyone of you really soon in another story!**

**PS: Ah, by the way, this particuar drabble (that contains angst) is dedicated to TheGardensOfTheMoon... she knows why ;)**

Being the dark one is lonely, that's what Emma has discovered. It's not painful, it's just a never ending feeling of loneliness that threaten to absorb every human thought of you until what it's left inside your heart is only the most animalistic version of you, one that won't feel lonely, or bad, for the decisions you would need to do, that you are going to force everyone to do.

The dark magic is alluring yet strange, it's not something that she had ever experienced and so, after her reappearance somewhere in the middle of the forest she had been trying to hide herself, being as further as possible from Storybrooke without actually crossing the city line. She knows that she should do that, cross the line, being stripped away from her powers but… she can't, she is too selfish.

Too selfish because she knows that once she crosses the city line she will be alone, forever.

It's cruel really, how fate had seemed to try once and again to teach her that she has a family, people who love her just to strip her off them.

She looks at her hands, wounded, covered in cuts and dried blood because in her first hours, when everything had hurt and she had tried to get away from the all-consuming feeling of loneliness she had scratched them until she couldn't take the pain anymore. She can feel everything, ever spec of magic, every power that Storybrooke has. For a second, in the middle of the night, she had even felt Regina's magic, the purple scent of the former queen almost guiding her back to the civilization, leading her out of the woods.

But she had resisted, Regina… no one can see her like this, not for now. She had felt the dagger calling her most basic levels of consciousness but so far she had fought against its power, knowing that is just a matter of time; she can't fight against the power that is now lurking inside her body, waiting… whispering in her ear how she is now truly and completely alone. Alone until someone kills her.

The idea of death is looking more and more appealing as the time passes. But she knows that she should wait, she made a promise to her parents, she knows they will try to find a way to save her, she only needs to be strong for a little more, a few hours more. But, she thinks as she bits her by now broken lips, scabs and dried blood framing her mouth, maybe it's too late when they finally found something for her, maybe she is already beyond salvation. She knows she needs to be strong but she had been strong for so many people… The savior who cannot be saved she thinks, smiling a humorless smile that breaks the scabs and make her wince in pain.

She could have everything, the magic whispers, a family, a happy ending, she only needs to listen, to do what it says and she will never be alone, they will love her… and fear her. What's better than love and respect? The magic is persistent, sleazy, soft, and for a second she considers to do what it is saying to her. Maybe it will stop hurting; maybe she will finally be free, free of prophecies, free to be herself.

She shakes her head and tried to keep walking just like she had been doing for the past hours, walk, keep moving around the city, keep having the magic inside of her, keep fighting the burning sensation, the need to cry, to rip her lungs and her heart.

Her heart, that's beating fast, its white magic being quickly defeated by the ancient power of the dagger. What will be quicker? Her death or the victory of the dark magic? Will she still be Emma beyond the layers that the Dark One uses?

She stumbles over a rock and falls, her whole body shaking once again, she can feel the magic slowly choking her while promising her a long life, a life full of her loved ones, a life in which she would never need to settle for less, a life with Henry, with her parents with… Regina.

Regina… she licks her lips and crawls until her whole body rests on an old and probably half rotten log. The earth behind her body is cold, humid, the air is filled with the odor of leaves fermenting on the pools of water and mud that cover almost all the surface of the woods, she hears the wind, whooshing between the trees, the darkness slowly approaching her part of the forest.

She needs to be strong, she knows Regina will come for her and she trusts her, more than she trusts her parents or Hook right now, she knows, because she had known for the longest of times that she can believe in her.

Two tears roll down her face, opening paths in her now dirty skin as she tries to not cry when another stab on her heart leaves herself practically unconscious. The magic is feral now, not sweet, not promising, it needs a body, her body and it needs it as quick as possible.

"I never told her" She thinks, her mind starting to drift away, her eyes, along with the rest of her body, burning and melting away. But Regina is smart, she is way too smart, she probably knows by now. Does she? The feverish thought invades the part of her mind that is still hers and hers alone. She knows? She realized at some point? She knew even before Emma knew it?

Probably not, she finally thinks, she is with Robin, her soulmate.

"That can change very quickly" The magic whispers again, showing her images of Regina laughing, smiling, talking to her, just like they had been doing while Robin was away. Regina had been next to her, she can have all of that again once she succumbs to the dark magic. It's only a tiny decision, the magic whispers, the easiest one. No more pain, only Regina and she…. And the dagger of course.

She groans and shakes her head once again, the magic won't have her, she only needs to wait for a little more. She had felt the dagger being moved away but they haven't summoned her, they haven¡t say her name so she still needs to wait, just for a little more, just for a few hours.

And then what, the magic replies, are you sure you are not being abandoned like the first time? You aren't the savior anymore, you are useless to them. Them, who changed the fate of a child only to have you as the perfect princess they needed to have, them, who lied to you over and over again. What is stopping them to make them abandon you?

No, she replies, her hands now two fists over her lap, trying to keep at least an ounce of body heat within her, her nails are breaking her skin; the pain is the only thing that it's now keeping her sane against the burn she feels inside her chest. They love me, the will save me, Regina knows, she will probably be the one who finds a solution, I will be saved and you will be destroyed. They will find Merlin.

The magic laughs; You are too naïve Emma, it whispers, you can't be saved, you were always my goal, to have you, to possess you and now, because your love for Regina you are going to be mine as long as you live. And you will, girl, you will live until all your loved ones have long passed away. With only me as your only companion. Surrender now and everything will be less painful; I will even let you have your happy ending if you cooperate.

"No" Emma screams, her breathing becoming labored, her throat burning as she tries to cry once again, she can't show any weakness, the dark magic would sense it and she need to be strong, strong for her parents, for Henry, for Regina. She needs to be there when they finally found a solution; she needs to be. She needs to see them talk to them, hug them; she needs to listen to Regina's voice one more time.

It's stupid really, she thinks as she tries to stand up and keep walking once again, her legs trembling for a second as she finally rises. It's stupid how many times she thought she could have told her how much she mattered for her, she almost told her the truth back in Neverland, and again in the city line, she almost told Regina how much she cared about her once they returned to Storybrooke and again when the brunette finally admitted that she didn't want to kill her. She had wanted to say it so many times that she had been scared, completely terrified that Regina would turn her back at her and leave her. And she needs Regina; she needs the stubborn, strong woman in her life. Beyond everything.

Henry, that's another stubborn one, she thinks as she starts walking, leaving the main roads between the woods at her back as she moves, not wanting to be spotted by anyone. If Regina is one of the most intelligent people she knows Henry is the most logical and yet most amazing one, he is strong, he will also find a solution, she only needs to wait.

But the magic is already too strong, she needs to rest for a second, just for a second and her pain will be gone after that. She can feels the magic smiling, ready to take over her body and maybe she is naïve, or weak because what can she do? What can she do against a power that has been free for over, at least, 4oo years?

The answer, the magic says, is nothing.


End file.
